It’s ties like these that get fans nostalgically talking about
the “magic of the FA Cup,” when tiny clubs have the chance to
become giant killers. But on the commercial front, that FA Cup
magic appears to have lost its sparkle.

The FA Cup is still without a sponsor, despite the competition —
open to everyone from the top teams down to village pub clubs who
play football in their spare time — kicking off back in August.
Previous title sponsor Budweiser pulled out from its £9
million-a-year deal last season and the Football Association has
had no luck in finding a replacement.

The FA is still understood to be looking for a partner for
2014/15 and has set an asking price of up to £10 million per
season going forward. But Business Insider has spoken to several
sponsorship industry insiders who all said it is unlikely the
competition will pick up a new sponsor this season — and that it
will probably struggle in the seasons to come.

The FA declined to comment when contacted by Business Insider.

There are a number of reasons why The FA Cup has “lost its
luster” over recent years in the eyes of brands:

There are better competitions
out there. As Jon Stainer, UK managing director of
sports market research agency Repucom, told us: “There’s no doubt
the FA Cup is still the competition for the masses, that
celebrates underdogs and inclusively, but overshadowed by other
competitions.”

Repucom’s SponsorTrack poll, which is nationally weighted and
based on the responses of more than 10,000 people, found the FA
Cup comes below the UEFA Champions League, Premier League, and
FIFA World Cup in terms of consumer interest. Considering the
sheer amount of domestic teams involved in the FA Cup compared to
the Champions League, where only a handful of the top English
sides take part, that’s worrisome.

Click to enlarge the chart below.

Repucom

How the FA Cup is packaged
commercially. Unlike the League Cup competition, in which
brands become a title sponsor (It is currently named The Capital
One Cup), FA Cup sponsors are only listed as the “presenting
partner.”

Tim Crow, CEO of sponsorship agency Synergy, told us: “The way
the FA Cup has been marketed and packaged by the FA misses a
trick. ‘Presented by’ is a bit clunky and makes it seem more
commercial and even American in a way. Amongst media and
consumers, the FA Cup sponsor is not mentioned, more often than
not. Last year, ‘Capital One’ was mentioned far more than
‘Budweiser’ [in relation to each competition.]”

Crow also believes the FA Cup is marketed to brands in a way that
it only appears to become a hot property once the third round
takes place in January.

“Much of the value actually lies in the period from August to
Christmas, the real value lies in all those stories [of the
smaller clubs and of community-level narratives]. Those ‘giant
killing’ stories have become a bit hackneyed,” Crow says.

How the FA Cup has changed in
the eyes of fans. The FA Cup Final used to
categorically be the last game of the football season. Now that
honor belongs to the UEFA Champions League Final. The FA Cup has
also changed in other ways along the years, most notably in odd
kick-off times. Holding a game on a Friday night is great for
broadcasters, but can be met by ire form traveling fans.

Ben Cronin, business director at the sports marketing division
within Starcom MediaVest Group, told us: “The tinkering with
match dates and kick off times is evidence of the pressure on the
Cup to react to the interest in other premium club football
competitions, notably the UEFA Champions League and the Barclays
Premier League. This has only been compounded during the life
cycle of this latest sponsorship by not consistently being able
to guarantee that the final is even the biggest English football
match on offer that day.

All the sponsorship experts we spoke to did agree that
there is still a chance for the FA Cup to pick itself back up and
become a more attractive marketing property. It went without a
sponsor for more than four years in the early-to-mid noughties
when AXA ended its sponsorship in 2002.

Here were some of their suggestions:

The FA market itself better to overseas sponsors in areas
like South East Asia where there are increasing levels of
interest in English football and its traditions.

Get the product right at a football level: Stop holding
finals at Wembley in London when the two finalists are from the
North of England, for example.

Package the FA Cup up with other rights within the FA stable.

Offer up actual title sponsorship.

Better educate brands about the opportunities that lie around
activating their sponsorships in the early stages of the
competition.